Three more Chicago politicians have jumped into an increasingly crowded race to replace Jesse Jackson Jr. in the 2nd Congressional District: Illinois State Sen. Toi Hutchinson (D-Olympia Fields), Chicago Ald. Anthony Beale (9th), and Robin Kelly — a top aide to Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle.

Hutchinson formally announced in an email Thursday that she would run for the seat Jackson vacated last week.

“Families in the South Suburbs and the [South Side] deserve a representative who understands their concerns and who will work alongside President Obama to create new jobs, rebuild our roads and schools, and protect the gains we’ve made on equal pay, health care and civil rights,” Hutchinson said.

Beale also announced Thursday he’s joining the race for Jackson’s seat. He told the Chicago Sun-Times he’s the only candidate in the field who’s created thousands of jobs, referring to his successful work to bring a Wal-Mart store to Pullman Park, at 111th and Doty Avenue. That store, set to open next spring, will be the third Wal-Mart supercenter in Chicago.

Meantime, CBS 2 Political Producer Ed Marshall has confirmed Kelly also is joining the race and will formally announce her candidacy on Sunday at an event in south suburban Matteson.

Already in the contest are former U.S. Rep. Debbie Halvorson of Crete, who lost a primary challenge to Jackson in March, and state Sen.-elect Napoleon Harris, a former Northwestern and NFL player who won his first office this month.

Also announced as a candidate is disgraced former U.S. Rep. Mel Reynolds, who gave up the 2nd District seat in 1995 after his conviction on sex-related charges, including having sex with an underage campaign worker.

* Harris can self fund and is a former football star with lots of charisma and a great life story. That makes him particularly dangerous…

“I’m running,” Harris told the Sun-Times. “The primary reason I chose to run for the state Senate is the heartbeat and the pulse of my constituents. But over the last few months, we’ve gotten overwhelming support to put my name in the ring for the congressional seat.”

A native of Dixmoor, Harris starred at Thornton Township High School then at Northwestern University. A first-round pick of the Oakland Raiders in 2002, he played seven NFL seasons, most notably starting in Super Bowl XXXVII. The owner of two Beggars Pizza franchises in the area, Harris wanted to return to his community, where many of his relatives still live.

Harris’ field director James Jones said the inquiries about his interest in the congressional seat started coming since Thanksgiving and ramped up Monday, when he estimated that there were 500 phone calls to their office. Late Monday, just before 5 p.m., retired real estate agent Erick Hawthorne called to volunteer to help Harris.

* Halvorson is one of the only white people who will run, which could be advantageous, but many of the district’s whites tend to be Republicans. Sen. Hutchinson replaced Halvorson in the Senate, so the two will likely fight over the same regional vote and the women vote. Still, Hutchinson is a rising star and can’t be underestimated.

Kelly ran statewide, so she has a legit shot. Not mentioned above is former Rep. David Miller, who may get into the race and is from the same region as Kelly.

Asked how he plans to raise the $500,000 it’s likely to take to win the abbreviated campaign, Beale said, “The old-fashioned way. We’re gonna make phone calls and get people to buy into my vision.”

Ald. Carrie Austin (34th), powerful chairman of the City Council’s Budget Committee, said she pledged her support to Beale two years ago and plans to keep her word to him.

“He understands the hardships of the 2nd Congressional District because he has lived in it and worked in it. Those hardships that we have that we have not been able to see addressed by the former congressman, he has more of the ground part of what needs to be done,” Austin said.

As you can see above, however, Austin has only a relative handful of weighted votes in the district.

Sneed hears former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. is now singing with the voice of an anxious canary. Sneed also hears rumbles the feds are very interested in a powerful dem femme, who is not an alderman. Stay tuned.

The Jackson File…

All in the family: Although former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.’s brother, Jonathan, has confided to pals he wants a political career — a future mayoral bid on his supposed wish list — it is another Jackson brother, Yusef, a lawyer, who is described by political watchers as “smart as whip” and “the real deal” who could be the next to enter the political fray.

Twice last year, Chicago businessman Yusef Jackson — a son of the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson and brother-in-law of Ald. Sandi Jackson (7th) — went to City Hall seeking taxpayer money for a new home for his Budweiser beer distributorship west of downtown, records obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times and interviews show.

At first, Jackson asked for a $4.2 million city subsidy in the form of tax-increment financing. That’s according to the application he submitted to City Hall in March 2011, shortly before Mayor Richard M. Daley left office.

On his second application, filed in August 2011, three months after Mayor Rahm Emanuel was sworn in, Jackson slashed the amount of taxpayer money he wanted. This time, he said he needed only $1 million from City Hall to help pay for the $5.1 million renovation of a vacant, two-story building he owns at 401 N. Ogden.

Many of the district’s whites are Republicans, but I’d think plenty will vote in this election, since for most of them, there won’t be a partisan primary that day, and they know it will decide the next congressman.

Let’s stop with the accusations that claim that former Congresswoman Halvorson is only a viable candidate because of her race. It’s offensive and disgusting. Voters may very well favor a candidate that has experience supporting the current president’s policies and goals, knows Washington, has friends in Congress already, and can hit the ground running.

I’m repulsed at all the hints of racism. Even claiming she has crossover appeal is suggesting that voters only care about skin color over the District’s long history of economic decline, family decay, infrastructure problems, crime, drugs, declining public school success and other issues more important to voters here.

If all you know is the race of the candidates and vote based on race, then don’t expect problems challenging this district to be resolved.

Reynolds makes my skin crawl. I hope he gets less support from anyone than CMB got during the mayoral race. I hope he is ignored. His craven desire for the seat appears to come from his need to generate cash to pay his debts. Despicable.

== Reynolds makes my skin crawl. I hope he gets less support from anyone than CMB got during the mayoral race. I hope he is ignored. His craven desire for the seat appears to come from his need to generate cash to pay his debts. Despicable ==

===Man, anyone not named Obama would have been spanked by JJJ in that primary.===

The point is … Halvorson DID run, and Debbie DID lose.

Halvorson needs the Demographics need to be in her favor. That is a fact.

Halvorson was not a good candidate, that is also a fact, and a former congressman that gets less than 30% is pretty pathetic. Halvorson wasn not the most gracious loser in the Primary either, but what did she expect, given what even you say, -IrishPirate -, about her uphill run.

===Hell, if JJJ announced the feds dropped the charges, the medication had made him better and he was running again he would likely win that district.===

Since that is NOT going to happen, I can’t agree or disagree with you.

It comes down to “numbers, demographics, and turnout”.

Bigger field, better for Halvorson.

Adam, Jr., runs as a Repub, is better for him, and better for our Theatre in the General Election!

Reynolds vs. Savage was the exception to the rule, and it was 20 years ago. At that time Bloom had the strongest GOP organization in the county under Chuck Panici. There is no Republican organization in the south suburbs today.

State Senator Toi Hutchinson – This is the Senator that got egg on her face for introducing the bill to give a massive bail out and taxpayer money to billionaire corporations Sears Roebuck and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, and not two months later Sears, after getting their money, let go hundreds of workers anyway. While at the same time, like a thief in the night, voted to raise income tax on regular citizens in Illinois by nearly 70%, gave permission for Commonwealth Edison to double its electric bill rates, gave permission for Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel to enact Speed Trap cameras on its citizens and for Chicago to confiscate the State Income Tax refunds of taxpaying citizens. And recently introduced bill to increase license plates to support parks – a non related function and one most of her constituents do not use. Also imposed tax on gentlemens clubs for another unrelated purpose. Hutchinson is no friend to the average everyday voter. Her answer to every problem is to increase taxes. Plus she is Halvorson’s ex chief of staff. Nuff said.

Casey-sounds like you need to learn more about this district. Hutchinson is very popular in her Senate district even among Republicans. She is a great fundraiser and will be a very formidable candidate.